Every Town - Canada’s CREEPIEST Unsolved Vanishing: The Jack Family

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code EVERYTOWN at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod This is one of the many missing persons cases coming from this part of Canada. Only it doesn’t involve just one person – it’s about an entire family gone in a flash and the stranger who picked them up. 👀 Watch This Episode On Youtube: ⁠https://youtu.be/u84mFtdx3QI 👁 Check out our movie AN ANGRY BOY for FREE! ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvtlOlODQ8g&t=5238s⁠ ⁠https://tubitv.com/movies/100029672/an-angry-boy⁠ International & Other Ways To Watch: ⁠https://www.anangryboy.com/⁠ 💀 MERCH: ⁠https://scary-mysteries.teemill.com/⁠ 💀 Free 7 Day Trail on Exclusive Episodes, Podcasts & Perks! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries⁠   🎧 Our Other Podcast Scary Mysteries: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkT⁠ 👁 X: ⁠https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1⁠ 👁Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg⁠ 👁 TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald⁠ 👁Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial⁠ 👁 X: ⁠https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1⁠   🗣 Business Inquiries, questions and comments hit us up at ⁠[e-mail]⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you ready to dive into the unknown? Join me, Peyton Moreland, on Into the Dark, the true crime podcast from Ono Media with a hint of horror and mystery. Each week, I dive into a different case, breaking down the facts, and pondering the age-old question, why do people do what they do? Now, sometimes the answer isn't so clear, and that's why I'll also explore conspiracy theories, hauntings, and all things spooky. From the Green River Killer to the Mothman incident, we will unravel all of the questions that keep us up at night.

So don't miss out. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Into the dark, where true crime meets the eerie unknown. Every town has a dark side. On August 2nd of 1989 in Prince George, British Columbia, a family of four climbed into a stranger's pickup truck hoping for a fresh start and some steady work. They were supposed to be back in 10 days, but that was 35 years ago. And the Jack family has never been seen again. Hey guys, it's Andrew. And thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of Everytown War Today. We're headed north to look at a case that is equal parts mystery and tragedy.

And unfortunately, it also has very little answers. It's one of the many missing persons cases coming from this part of Canada, only it doesn't involve just one person. It's about an entire family gone in a flash and the stranger who picked them up. So, let's get into it, check out one of Canada's creepiest unsolved vanishings, the Jack family.

Ronald Jack, known as Ronnie to his friends, was 26 years old back in the summer of 89. His wife Doreen was the same age, and together they had two sons, sons, nine-year-old Russell and four-year-old Ryan. And they were members of the Cheslotta Carrier Nation, an indigenous First Nation community that lived primarily in the Burns Lake region, which is located just around the middle of the province. And like many other indigenous families around that time, they were struggling to make ends meet, working in a system that

have been stacked against them from the beginning. It was a combination of systemic discrimination and government policies and long-standing social and economic injustices that made life for the natives difficult. Essentially, they were living on land that was once all theirs, only now they had trouble fitting in because of colonization and found themselves on the outside looking in. And it's important to understand this setting when looking into this case because when you zoom out and see what was really happening across the entire country at the time,

You see that the Jack's story is far from unique. So, let's set the stage. Doreen's childhood was met with the harsh realities many indigenous children in Canada endured. We lived in a small little shack, just like a one basic bedroom shack, the kitchen, living room, bedroom all in one. And outside the door, there'll be like a little tiny hill

for me. It looked like a big hill because I was so small. As she faced parental abandonment, suffered physical abuse from her father and even by friends of the family. My dad liked to drink. He partied a lot. Some of the men would come over and sneak to us girls and make sexual advances towards us. The poverty in her community ran deep. Painful consequence of colonial policies that took away indigenous people's land, resources, and digger. But the most devastating part came when Doreen and her sisters, Maria and Lorraine, were sent to La Jaxe Residential School. Now, these residential schools where kids stayed on the grounds 24-7, were part of Canada's deliberate policy to, in the words of one government official, kill off the Indian and the child. When Doreen, Marlene and I were attending residential school, we weren't allowed to. to acknowledge each other as sisters.

And every time I did see my sisters, it was hard not to try and wave at them without any of the supervisors noticing because they did catch me do that once and I got into very big trouble for doing that. So we were taught that our biological family was not our family anymore. Miller Jack residential school was no exception

and when it finally closed in 1976 I left behind generations of traumatized children who struggled to rebuild their lives and families so this was the world that Doreen grew up in after the school shut down she attended a live-in Catholic high school where she began an on-and-off relationship with Ronald at 17 she gave birth to Russell in February of 1980 though it wasn't Ronald's baby.

And two years after that, she and Ronnie moved into his parents' place in South Bank. Ronald's mother, Mabel, said that the couple seemed happy together. They supported one another, and Ronald always felt like Russell was his own son and treated him as such. And their second child, Ryan,

was then born in the summer of 85, and for a while at least, things seemed to be looking up for the Jack family. But by the late 80s, their situation had deteriorated in life of the family hit a serious rough patch. Ronald had hurt his back working at the local sawmill. It was so severe it forced him to lose his job, which put the family on welfare. They relocated a Prince George, a more populated city, hoping that there would be more employment

opportunities, but in the end, work was scarce and the desperation was setting in. There was no plan B, no one to help them out financially, and the Jacks were on their own and needed to find a way to make it through the tough times. The stress of it all was taking its toll on the relationship. Doreen had begun drinking heavily and her sister Maria as she witnessed Ronald Hitting her on more than one occasion. The family's financial situation had become dire to the point where they found themselves stealing medicine from pharmacies when the kids were ill

because they couldn't afford to buy it, let alone get them proper medical attention. Though it was a tough spot for Ronnie to be in as the head of the house, looking at a sick kid and a hungry wife, not being able to meet their basic needs. There was no doubt about it. He was desperate for work, and that desperation ultimately would prove to be fatal. You guys already know I don't put my name behind just anything. And if you listen to the channel, you've heard me talk about One Skin before, and that's because I genuinely love their products.

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On Tuesday, August 1st of 1989, after the sun had said over the working-class neighborhood with the Jack family was renting a small, cramped home, Ronald headed outside for some relief and walked four blocks down to the first-leader pub, a neighborhood watering hole that served as a sort of unofficial employment center for the town's down-and-out workers. and the pub was located at the corner of Strathcona Avenue in Tamarack Street, a single-story building painted in purple and yellow that had seen better days. Inside, the air was thick with cigarette smoke, and the conversations came from men nursing their drinks, discussing their disappointments.

This wasn't anything new for Ronnie. He had been here before. In recent weeks, he'd basically become a regular, hoping to hear about work opportunities, while simultaneously taking the edge off with a couple of bruise. This pub was the kind of place where contractors looking for cheap labor might stop by, and where word of mouth spread faster than through any official channels. On this particular night, the pub had its usual collection of regular blue-collar guys. Ronald sat with his drinks and made conversation, always listening for that magic word, work.

And that's when he appeared. Like an angel sent down from heaven, a stranger approached Ronnie with what seemed like an answer to his prayers. The man claimed to have jobs available at a logging camp near Coulcett's Lake, which was about 30 miles west of Prince George along Highway 16. He offered Ronnie work cutting logs and even promised Doreen a position as a short-order cook. Even better, he claimed the logging camp had daycare facilities for Russell and Ryan, meaning the entire family. family could stay together while Ronald and Doreen worked. For a family that had been separated by financial pressures and the constant stress of unemployment, well, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. This angel of a man was ultimately

described by witnesses as a white guy, somewhere in his late 30s, maybe early 40s. He was big, stood somewhere between six feet and six foot six, weighing around 225 and 270 pounds. He had darkish-colored red hair, reached the bottom of his ears, and parted on one side, and a full beard and stash. At the time, he was wearing a baseball cap, a red checkered flannel, and blue jeans. If this description seems partially all over the place in terms of physical appearance, it's because it was compiled from two witnesses, one in late 1989 and another in 1990, so sometimes it. had passed. The Jack family couldn't afford their own car, of course, so a stranger offered to take them up there to the logging camp that very night if Ronnie was ready. There was a lot of trees to

cut, so the sooner they could start the better, and the job, he said, will last between 10 days and two weeks, long enough to earn some real money between the two, and short enough, but the children wouldn't miss too much school when classes resume later in August. And so, after they finished their drinks, Ronald left the pub with the man around 11 p.m. They headed straight to the Jack family home on Strathcona Avenue. Well, we don't know exactly what went down. There are certain things that happened next, which give us a glimpse into the final hours of the Jack family's lives. As they began packing in the early morning hours of August 2nd, Ronald made two phone calls that were proved to be the last communication anyone would have with the family.

The first one was to his brother to arrange for his sons to stay with him for a few days while he was working, but he found out that wouldn't be possible. And then he called his mother. According to her, Ronald told her about what was happening and that he was excited. Ronnie was just desperate to work, so he just went along with him.

Taking the family with me. If I don't come back, you look for me between Bannerhoof and look a slick. In other words, Ronnie's gut told him something was off about this entire situation and perhaps the opportunity was too good to be true. And maybe he didn't trust the bearded man, but in the same breath, he was so desperate

he felt he didn't have a choice. He needed to take the chance. Doreen's sister, Lareen, headed to the house that morning to say goodbye and was all moving very fast. I saw Doreen running, in and out of the house the night they went missing and I wish I'd have known that that was what was happening to them. When I saw that white pickup truck, something told me I better stay away.

She saw the family packing their belongings into the man's pickup truck, well, he just sat and waited. And a few hours later, Ronnie, Doreen, Russell, and Ryan climbed into the dark-colored four-wheel drive pickup and drove off with that unidentified. identified man, and were never seen again. When the family failed to return after several weeks, by late August, Ronald's mother reported the missing.

And she was going to keep her word to go looking for him, and she would have to search hard because the police response was, to put it mildly, inadequate. Various members of the Jack family have stated that they were not quick to jump in on finding an entire family. Police said that they could have simply started a life somewhere new, but it felt to them more like they didn't care because of their indigenous background. As I said, the neglect faced by missing indigenous people isn't new or isolated to the Jack family's case.

All across Canada, indigenous women, men, and children vanish at much higher rates than others. All too often, their cases don't get the attention or resources they deserve. All at once is really inconceivable. Like, you'd never think something like that ever happened. Like, yeah, sure, you hear one person missing from here, from there. But a family of four, like, something had to have happened. The Jack family disappeared somewhere along Highway 16. And if that sounds familiar, it's because it's also.

known as the highway of tears, a place where many indigenous women have gone missing or been discovered murdered. So from the very beginning, the investigation into the Jack family's disappearance ran into major issues. On September 7th, for example, the police and Prince George mistakenly reported that the family had been found, which led to the case being shut down, if only briefly. But that kind of basic mistake speaks volumes about how seriously the authorities were actually treating the investigation. A mistake that wasn't caught right away. I mean, it took days to realize that they had shut the case down

at a time when it should have been ramping up. The next year, a reenactment of the disappearance aired on Prince George's CKPG TV, but the station didn't even reach the area where the family was believed to have gone missing. It felt more like a political move of going through the motions without really tackling the issue, as if telling the population that they were still, looking into it, when in reality, they could care less.

By 1992, the Prince George Native Friendship Center and Mabel Jack were working to raise more reward money and drum up publicity for the case. And Crime Stoppers was offering up to $2,000 for any information about the Jack family's whereabouts, but despite that, no solid leads ever came through. It would take nearly seven years after the disappearance, but finally something happened. that moved the needle in the case, at least for a moment. For investigators, it was a possible break in the case, and for the family, if it were true, would be the confirmation of what they feared the truth actually was all along.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, January 28th of 1996, seemingly out of nowhere, an anonymous caller contacted the police and Vanderhoof, British Columbia. The caller, very matter-of-factly, stated that the Jack family was, quote-unquote, buried at the south end of a ranch. Then they just hung up. That call was traced to a house in nearby Stony Creek, and it was discovered that a party was being held there when the call was made. So, it's likely some drunk people just thought they were having a little fun, though maybe not. And what if the call was legitimate? And perhaps after having a few too many, this person actually got the courage to reach out

and lift the weight of what they knew off their shoulders. Police reached out via news stations and newspapers asking for the caller to make contact with them again. They released the audio table of the call when he didn't come forward, hoping that someone might recognize the voice. And that caller only spoke for 10 seconds, though, so it made it tough for people to turn someone in. Even if they did think they knew the person, essentially you'd be throwing them directly into a missing person's investigation, so you better be sure.

In ten seconds, just wasn't enough. But really, that call represented the most significant tip in the case to date. Investigators were eventually able to figure out that six to nine partygoers have been in attendance during the time frame of the call. However, they were unable to locate all of the attendees, and it remains unclear whether the call was. was ever identified. In March of 96, the voice recording was analyzed by the University of British Columbia, but this analysis didn't lead any breakthroughs. The RCMP asked the caller to come forward again in 2018, but by that time, well, 29 years had passed, so they didn't get any response. Still, though, that anonymous tip led to searches of various properties over the years. As recent as August of

2019, police conducted searches with ground-penetrating radar on property belonging to the Saku's First Nation, south of Vanderhoof. Heavy equipment was used, and the search was thorough, but no trace of the Jack family was found. And since the investigation started, there have been hundreds of interviews conducted by both police and various organizations set up by Jack's relatives. But after more than 35 years, this case remains a total mystery, and no sign of Ronnie, Doreen, Russell, or Ryan has ever been found. Who exactly was that man in the bar that night, and what did he do with the four family members? It's likely that he never had any intention of bringing them to a logging site.

It did exist and was a full-scale operation, which means that if the jacks had made it there, then likely someone would have seen them. They didn't. On top of that, based on the description, no one there knew of a large man with the rest of reddish colored beard. Over time, the mystery around the Jack family has only grown deeper. In 2020, age-progressed photos were released showing what they might look like today if they were still alive. And created by forensic artists Samantha Steinberg, these images aimed to keep the case alive in the public eye and hopefully generate new leads. But at this point,

that's nearly impossible to do. So the question that haunts everyone connected to this case is simple. what happened that night? There are several theories, and none of them pleasant, to contemplate. The most likely story here is, of course, that the bearded stranger never actually planned to take the family to a logging camp at all. He could smell Ronnie's desperation and just wanted to get rid of him and his family, and perhaps as many indigenous people as he possibly could. That whole job offer was probably just a trap.

Then, in a spot where they were supposedly taken near Coulkes Lake along Highway 16, is really important. Now, this highway has a dark history. It's known for a shocking number of disappearances and murders, mostly of indigenous women. The area is so remote, with endless stretches of wilderness, I could easily hide any evidence. If something terrible happened to the Jack family along that route, The remains could be lost in thousands of acres of dense forest.

Some sources suggest that since 1969, more than 80 women and girls have gone missing or been murdered here. In 1989 alone, you had the Jack family disappearing. Then, 24-year-old Alberta Williams was found near the Tai'i Overpass, having been strangled to death, and she was found in late August. In October, 15-year-old Cecilia Nicol was last seen near Stuyer, smithers before she vanished forever. And in November, 18-year-old Marnie Blanchard's last seen in Prince George getting into a Toyota pickup truck. Her remains were found a month later

on an unmarked dirt road. Then there's the anonymous call back in 96, which suggests someone out there knows more than they're letting on. The caller said the family was buried at the south end of a ranch, which sounds kind of like specific inside information, more so than say a prank call. But why make that call and then refuse to say anything else? Maybe the person only had secondhand knowledge, something overheard at a party or from someone else and didn't want to get tangled up with the police. Maybe the caller was wrestling with guilt or remorse, feeling the need to come forward but not ready to fully confess.

The fact the call came almost seven years. years after the family disappeared, hints that something must have triggered them to speak up. I mean, if it were a prank, what's the fun in calling in false information about a case that's almost a decade old? And we can't ignore the possibility that human trafficking was involved here. Sadly, these kinds of scams and disappearances along remote highways have been linked to trafficking networks targeting indigenous people. That means that maybe not everyone in the family was actually killed. Maybe Ronnie was, but his boys and wife separated and sold, landing, only God knows where. If this is, in fact, what happened to them, well, that's what makes this case

so frustrating and hard to nail down. Recent efforts by the Jack family's relatives show that the case is far from over. In June of 2024, family members organized a fresh search east of Prince George near Willow Lake, acting on new tips they received. But the Prince George, RCMP, chose not to get involved, saying the information about the search area wasn't solid enough for them to join as part of an official investigation. And this response really highlights the ongoing struggle between the family's urgent need for answers and the police's need for concrete evidence before they can commit resources. That despite the lack of official support, the family hasn't backed down.

And they brought in search dogs and even an excavator. showing just how to determine they are to uncover the truth on their own. However, it's still not enough. I want my family home. That's what I want. It's 29 years. My nephews, he was five and nine years old. How can you possibly, possibly think about her?

Any kids, these boys were innocent. They had nothing to do with nothing. And what Ronnie and Doreen have done, they were adults. These were kids. You need to give my family back. I want my family. The disappearance of the Jack family is more than just one tragic story. It reflects a much bigger crisis affecting indigenous communities across Canada.

Every year, between 70,000 and 80,000 people go missing in the country. Most are found within a few days, but many others end up on a growing list of long-term, missing persons. And indigenous people are sadly overrepresented in these numbers. And what's more, this case is connected to the wider issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, which has gained more public attention in recent years. Even though the Jacks include men and boys, their story shares common threads with many other cases under this umbrella, one of which is that police often show a little urgency to jump

in on the search. and four lies were erased in a single night just like that and over 30 years later still nothing some believe the family was targeted others think they were victims of a much larger and more sinister force operating in northern British Columbia but whatever happened that night one thing is certain

somebody out there knows and they've kept their secret buried for decades if you have any information about the Jack family's disappearance we'll contact Canada's National Center for Missing Persons. So that's going to do it for this week's episode of Everytown. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you enjoy the type of work we do and you want more, we'll check out some of the links down in the description.

More podcasts and videos from us to go through, merch, and our movie and Angry Boy is available. I appreciate you all very much, so thank you for tuning in. Remember to come back next week for another episode of Everytown but with scary, strange, and mysterious stories, because you never know. Maybe your town will be next.